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‘Game of Thrones’ Takes Top Prize at Surprising Emmys

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HBO’s record-breaking fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” stormed back onto the Emmys stage on Monday, winning the coveted best drama series prize on a night full of surprises, including an on-air marriage proposal that stunned the audience.

The other big story of the Hollywood gala, television’s answer to the Oscars, was the huge success of “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel,” Amazon’s story of a 1950s housewife-turned-stand up comic, which took home eight Emmys overall, including the best comedy award.

“The Handmaid’s Tale” — last year’s best drama and an early favorite for more hardware in 2018 — went home empty-handed from the star-studded event at the Microsoft Theater, after winning three minor awards handed out a week ago.

The ceremony hosted by “Saturday Night Live” regulars Colin Jost and Michael Che took on a decidedly political hue at the start, with a barrage of edgy jokes on hot-button issues from diversity in Hollywood to #MeToo and Donald Trump.

The gala also saw several sentimental favorites take home their first Emmys.

Matthew Rhys won for best drama actor for spy thriller “The Americans,” Claire Foy was named best drama actress for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in “The Crown” and Henry Winkler triumphed for supporting comedy acting on “Barry.”

But the coveted drama prize went to “Game of Thrones,” which was ineligible for last year’s Emmys, and series star Peter Dinklage took home the best supporting actor prize for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister.

“Writing for these actors behind us is the honor of a lifetime,” said the show’s co-creator David Benioff.

“But we didn’t invent these characters. That was George R.R. Martin. The show could not be without the mad genius of George.”

“GoT” won nine Emmys this year, meaning the blood-spattered cinematic tale of noble families vying for the Iron Throne — which returns in 2019 for an abbreviated eighth and final season — now has 47 awards overall.

That breaks the program’s own record as the most decorated fictional show since the Television Academy first handed out prizes in 1949.

‘Mrs Maisel’ breaks through

In the comedy categories, “Mrs Maisel” bested all comers in its first year of eligibility, sweeping the female acting prizes (star Rachel Brosnahan and co-star Alex Borstein) and best series honors.

Earlier this year, “Maisel” won two Golden Globes.

“One of the things I love the most about this show… it’s about a woman who is finding her voice anew,” Brosnahan said.

“It’s something that’s happening all over the country right now. One of the most important ways that we can find and use our voices is to vote. So if you haven’t already registered, do it on your cell phone right now.”

HBO dark comedy “Barry” notched two acting wins — for Winkler and series star Bill Hader.

Politics and #MeToo

The Emmys opened with a daring song-and-dance number poking fun at myriad controversies including the problem of ensuring diversity in Hollywood productions.

“We solved it!” crooned “SNL” nominees Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson, with back-up from pop stars John Legend and Ricky Martin — and even RuPaul.

They then yielded the stage to Jost and Che — who let the zingers fly.

“This year, the audience is allowed to drink in their seats. Hope you’re excited about that — because the one thing Hollywood needs right now is a bunch of people losing their inhibitions at a work function,” Jost said, in a reference to #MeToo.

 An Emmy-winning proposal

Looking to boost audience ratings, Emmys organizers said they were hoping to shake up the broadcast — and indeed they did, intentionally and unintentionally.

A surprise marriage proposal from Emmy-winning director Glenn Weiss won over the audience — and the internet.

As Weiss accepted his award for directing the Oscars, he asked Jan Svendsen, who was sitting in the audience, to marry him.

“You wonder why I don’t like to call you my girlfriend? Because I want to call you my wife,” he added to cheers, applause and a few teary-eyed actors in the audience.

Svendsen then joined Weiss on stage as the director got on one knee and formally proposed.

The moment was especially poignant as Weiss revealed his mother had recently passed away — and offered Svendsen the ring his father had given his mom.

Drama showdown

Other big winners included FX’s “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” which won Emmys for best limited series and an acting prize for Darren Criss, who earned rave reviews for his dark turn as the designer’s killer Andrew Cunanan.

Thandie Newton won the best supporting actress in a drama statuette for her work on HBO’s futuristic western “Westworld.”

“I don’t even believe in God but I’m going to thank her tonight,” Newton quipped.

“Saturday Night Live” won the award for best variety sketch series.

In the emerging battle of traditional networks vs new platforms, streaming giant Netflix and HBO ended in a dead heat at the top — at 23 Emmys each.

Stay tuned for the next episode in that duel… at next year’s Emmys.

 
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China Prepares Retaliation for $200 Billion in US Tariffs

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China says it has no choice but to retaliate to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, risking a further escalation of trade tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

 

In a brief statement posted online Tuesday, China’s Commerce Ministry said, “To protect its legitimate rights and interests and order in international free trade, China is left with no choice but to retaliate simultaneously.”

 

The statement did not say how China might respond. China has previously said it would respond with a list of tariffs that includes products from liquified natural gas to aircraft.  On Monday, the Communist Party backed Global Times newspaper warned that if Trump went ahead with the tariffs, China would not just play defense.

 

At about the same time the Commerce Ministry statement was released, a research director for North America and the Pacific at the Commerce Ministry also delivered a commentary on China’s state-run CCTV news network.

 

The official said the latest round of tariffs have brought uncertainty to ongoing efforts for representatives from both countries to meet again and hold trade talks.

 

“Under the party’s strong central leadership, China has the resolve and confidence to press ahead and use deeper reforms and deeper opening up as well as the development of our domestic market to counter United States unilateralism,” Li Wei said.

 

Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily briefing Tuesday in Beijing that talks are the only correct way to resolve the issue and accused the United States of being insincere.  Last week, the United States extended an invitation to China’s top negotiator, Liu He, to resume talks later this month in Washington.

 

“As for what measures China may take in response, that will be announced at an appropriate time,” Geng said.

 

The $200 billion in U.S. tariffs go into effect in less than a week, on September 24, leaving the two sides little time to sit down.

 

On Monday, President Trump warned, in a statement announcing his move, if China retaliates against U.S. farmers or other industries, Washington “will immediately pursue phase three, which is tariffs on approximately $267 billion in additional imports.”

The additional $267 billion in tariffs is expected to cover all Chinese imports to the United States.

American and European businesses operating in China say that if Washington presses ahead with more and more tariffs, it is likely to only add to the challenges businesses are already facing.

 

According to surveys conducted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China and the European Chamber of Commerce, trade tensions are already hitting and hurting supply chains of foreign businesses.  Some companies have begun to move manufacturing away from China and the United States to avoid the impact of growing trade tensions, the European Chamber said.

 

European Chamber President Mats Harborn said engagement on the part of Washington and Beijing is the answer.

 

He said that what the United States is doing now is “economic madness” that risks creating a vicious cycle for business that could have an impact in China and elsewhere.  But the root of the trade dispute is that China’s reform is lagging behind its development, creating a “reform deficit.”

 

“Closing the reform gap will create better private companies in China, foreign companies,” Harborn said.  “And reducing the reform deficit should also help reduce tensions in the ongoing trade war.”

 

In its annual position paper on European business in China, the chamber lists 828 recommendations for Chinese authorities to address that deficit.

 

One of the key hurdles both private Chinese enterprises and foreign companies face is the dominant position state owned enterprises (SOEs) enjoy.  State owned enterprises account for around 30 percent of the economy and yet enjoy nearly 70 percent of all financing, the report said.

 

Unfair trade practices and the way SOEs contribute to an unbalanced playing field in China are key elements of the investigation the Trump administration carried out prior to launching its first round of tariffs.

 

But how far China is willing to go to change is uncertain.  Later this month, a meeting on SOEs will be held that many are expecting will be an indicator of the future course China’s Communist Party leaders plan to chart.

 

“We hear that there is a move to make the SOEs stronger, bigger and better,” Harborn said.  “Such ambitions are hindering the further opening and development of the vibrant private Chinese sector.”

 

If reform of SOEs is not on the agenda at the meeting, that would be seen as a clear provocation, given the current climate, he said. 

 

 

 

 
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Music Brings Joy to Poor Children

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In Baltimore, a free after school music program called OrchKids is being used as an instrument of change for children in underprivileged neighborhoods. In the past 10 years, more than 1,300 children have received free group music lessons, and free instruments, from flutes to trumpets to violins.

The program was started by Marin Alsop, music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, who said OrchKids also aims to create social change in a city where about 40 percent of the population live in poverty. She hopes that if more children of color learn an instrument that “orchestras will better reflect the diversity of our communities.”

For 15 year old Nema Robinson, OrchKids has given her more opportunities than she ever imagined. Four years ago, the quiet teenager started taking the group violin lessons and quickly progressed. 

Her teacher, Ahreum Kim, grew up in Korea and studied at the prestigious Peabody Institute in Baltimore. 

“Nema’s determination has helped make her a top violin student” Kim said. “OrchKids is doing a lot for Nema, by giving her confidence, the practice of being in front of an audience, and musical skills she can be proud of,” she added.

Nema’s musical journey began when she and her mother, Susan Johnson, saw an OrchKids concert. Johnson was amazed to see black kids performing classical and opera music. “You just don’t see that,” she recalled thinking, “And I’m elbowing Nema and telling her, ‘This is what you should be doing.”

Nema enthusiastically agreed, and soon after started taking violin lessons that have given her the opportunity to play all kinds of music. She is especially proud of being a violinist in the Orchkids jazz band.

OrchKids has been instrumental in guiding many students, some from difficult backgrounds, by providing a place where they feel respected and safe.

“Some of the students come into the class with baggage,” said Kim. “That could be due to poverty, or trouble at home. It is helpful when I learn about their families.”

Nema had a rough start in life as a drug addicted baby. With both her parents in prison, her aunt became her guardian and mother.

“She’s my number one supporter and has helped me a lot,” said Nema appreciatively. She pushes me. If it wasn’t for my mom I don’t think I would really be this good at playing the violin.”

Aside from the camaraderie and the encouragement that OrchKids provides, Nema also enjoys performing. I like seeing the audience, and their clapping and standing up after the performance,” she said. “It just makes my day.”

Thanks to her free violin lessons, Nema was accepted into the Baltimore School for the Arts where she now studies music.

She hopes to earn a college degree in music so she can teach other black children, like herself, how to live their lives on a high note. 

“It doesn’t matter what race you are, you can play music. If it’s your passion then it’s your passion,” Nema said with a smile.
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‘Mrs. Maisel,’ ‘Game of Thrones’ Win Top Emmy Honors

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“Game of Thrones” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won the top prizes at the Emmy awards on Monday on a night of upsets for the highest honors in television.

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” was named best drama series, beating last year’s champion “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” about a 1950s housewife who turns to standup comedy, took home the Emmy for best comedy series. “Mrs. Maisel” also won four other awards, including a best actress for Rachel Brosnahan.

Claire Foy beat presumed front runner Elisabeth Moss, star of Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” to win for her quiet but formidable portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in Netflix drama “The Crown.”

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” said a surprised Foy.

Matthew Rhys took his first best drama actor Emmy for playing a conflicted Russian spy in the final season of the FX Cold War series “The Americans.”

“Saturday Night Live” won, as expected, for variety sketch series, taking its lifetime Emmy total to a record-setting 72 wins.

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace” took the Emmy for best limited series and brought an acting trophy for Darren Criss, who played the gay serial killer who murdered the Italian designer in Miami in 1997.

One of the biggest shocks of the night came when presumed front runner Donald Glover, the star and creator of the surreal hip-hop-inspired FX show “Atlanta,” lost out in the comedy acting category to Bill Hader’s hitman-turned-struggling actor in HBO’s showbusiness satire “Barry.”
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Africa’s Youth Population, Poverty Spur Gates Foundation’s Giving

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Africa has the globe’s fastest-growing youth population as well as 10 of the poorest countries, a volatile combination that warrants making it “the world’s most important priority for the foreseeable future.”

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation lays out that argument in its second annual report on progress toward sustainable development goals set by the United Nations for 2030. This Goalkeepers Data Report, released Tuesday, urges targeting Africa with the same kind of investment intensity that lifted once-poor China and India into the ranks of middle-income nations.

Sixty percent of Africans are younger than 24, numbers that Melinda Gates emphasized in a phone interview earlier this month with VOA’s English to Africa Service.

“If the world makes the right investments in health and nutrition and education,” she said, it could unleash the potential of “an amazing generation that has unbelievable ingenuity.”    

The report notes that while the youth population is booming in Africa, it’s shrinking elsewhere in the world. For example, the median age is 19 in Africa – and 35 in North America. Populations are expected to soar by 2050 in the 10 poorest countries: Benin, Burundi, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Zambia.

Melinda Gates described the foundation as a “catalytic wedge,” whose investments can fuel beneficial projects and programs.

“We start getting things going” with many partners on the ground “working in culturally, contextually sensitive ways,” she said. “We take some risks, but ultimately it’s the governments who scale them up, and that work is done in deep partnership with many people around the globe.”

The Gates Foundation is the biggest of U.S. funders aiding Africa, such as the Ford, Rockefeller, Conrad N. Hilton, Carnegie and Open Society foundations,  Inside Philanthropy reported in 2016. Earlier this year, the news website observed that charitable giving by Africans is growing, too.    

To date, the Gates Foundation has invested more than $15 billion “in projects relevant to Africa,” the Gatekeepers report says, while promising to spend more. It has targeted three areas for investment: health, education and agriculture.

Health: The foundation subsidizes a range of health programs, from childhood vaccination and good nutrition, but it gives special attention to family planning and HIV interventions.

Among countries that have risen economically, “every one of them allowed voluntary access to contraceptives to women,” Gates told VOA. “We know if men and women can space the births of their children … there are more opportunities then for those children and their families. Girls can stay in school” and, when educated, are better able to provide for their families.

“Those people create amazing opportunities and new jobs in the economy,” Gates added.

The U.S. government is the biggest donor in global family planning and reproductive health, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), a nonprofit focused on health issues. U.S. spending on that front was at $608 million in fiscal year 2018, though the Trump administration has proposed reductions for 2019. Funding levels can reflect domestic and international political debates, especially over abortion, KFF’s website notes. It adds that, since 1973, the government has banned “direct use of U.S. funding overseas for abortion as a method of family planning. …”

The report praised Rwanda for building “an effective health system” that has brought about “the steepest drop in child mortality ever recorded.” In 2005, the country recorded 103 deaths per 1,000 lives births; a decade later, the death rate dropped to 50.

As for HIV infections, the report acknowledged progress in Zimbabwe, where a fourth of all adults were infected in 1997, the peak year of the epidemic.

“Since 2010, new infections are down by 49 percent, and AIDS-related deaths are down by 45 percent,” it noted. But it warned that the youth boom could bring a reversal without continued support for treatment and prevention methods.

Education: While school enrollment and literacy rates have improved, as the United Nations reports, that’s not enough.

“We need to get the quality of education to come up, much like Vietnam has done,” Melinda Gates told VOA.

Students in that country, labeled as low income until 2010, ranked among the best in the world in science in the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s most recent assessment of 15-year-olds.

Agriculture: “… We need to make sure that we help countries move from subsistence farming to making real investments” supporting larger-scale operations so people can feed themselves, Gates said. 

Ghana provides a good example, she and the report noted.

With its current agricultural productivity and innovations such as new hybrid varieties of maize, the country’s “poverty rate is projected to fall from 20 percent in 2016 to 6 percent in 2030.”

But, the report observed, “There is ample room for Ghana’s agrifood system to keep developing.” For example, “cocoa, the country’s main export crop, is sold raw and processed outside the country. Meanwhile, almost half of all processed foods consumed in Ghana are imported.” Buying food processed in Ghana would keep more money in the country and generate jobs, it said.   

Since 2000, more than a billion people have risen from extreme poverty, a level that the World Bank sets at $1.90 a day. Melinda Gates attributed that rise to “investments the world made systematically in human capital: in health, in education, in agriculture. …

“A lot of the gains that we’ve seen can drop back, particularly with a growing population,” she said. “So our message to the world is keep your foot on the gas. Keep the accelerator going.”
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ADB Ramps Up Pacific Presence as Aid Donors Jostle for Influence

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The Asian Development Bank said on Tuesday it is expanding its presence in the Pacific islands, at a time of competition for influence there, opening seven new country offices and expecting its loans and grants in the region to top $4 billion by 2020.

The pledge from the Japan-led bank comes amidst a vigorous new campaign by the United States and its allies to check China’s rising sway in the region, where it has sought deeper diplomatic ties and emerged as the second-largest donor.

The battle for influence in the sparsely populated Pacific matters because each of the tiny island states has a vote at international forums like the United Nations, and they also control vast swathes of resource-rich ocean.

The ADB said it will open offices in the Cook Islands, Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu, as well as expand missions in Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.

“The new country offices will allow ADB to have more regular contact and substantive communication with government and development partners,” the bank said in a statement.

Its overall assistance to the Pacific, which stands at $2.9 billion, is expected to surpass $4 billion by 2020, it added, with the money destined for economic and social development projects and disaster resilience.

China has likewise pledged to keep lending to a region where it says its aid is supporting sustainable development.

However, it has spent $1.3 billion on concessionary loans and gifts since 2011, stoking concern in the West that several tiny nations could end up overburdened and in debt to Beijing.

Australia in particular, which has long viewed the Pacific as its backyard, has been critical of some Chinese aid projects, and a former foreign minister has warned that the lending could undermine the long-term sovereignty of recipients.
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SpaceX’s First Private Passenger is Japanese Fashion Magnate Maezawa

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SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space transportation company, on Monday named its first private passenger as Japanese businessman Yusaku Maezawa, the founder and chief executive of online fashion retailer Zozo.

A former drummer in a punk band, billionaire Maezawa will take a trip around the moon planned for 2023 aboard its forthcoming Big Falcon Rocket spaceship, taking the race to commercialize space travel to new heights.

The first person to travel to the moon since the United States’ Apollo missions ended in 1972, Maezawa’s identity was revealed at an event on Monday evening at the company’s headquarters and rocket factory in the Los Angeles suburb of Hawthorne.

Maezawa, who is most famous outside Japan for his record-breaking $110 million purchase of an untitled 1982 Jean-Michel Basquiat painting, said he would invite six to eight artists to join him on the lunar orbit mission.

The billionaire chief executive of electric car maker Tesla, Musk revealed more details of the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR, the super heavy-lift launch vehicle that he promises will shuttle passengers to the moon and eventually fly humans and cargo to Mars. The BFR could be conducting its first orbital flights in about two to three years, he said.

Musk had previously said he wanted the rocket to be ready for an unpiloted trip to Mars in 2022, with a crewed flight in 2024, though his ambitious production targets have been known to slip.

“Its not 100 percent certain we can bring this to flight,” Musk said of the lunar mission.

The amount Maezawa is paying for the trip was not disclosed, however, Musk said the businessman outlaid a significant deposit and will have a material impact on the cost of developing the BFR.

The 42-year-old Maezawa is one of Japan’s most colorful executives and is a regular fixture in the country’s gossipy weeklies with his collection of foreign and Japanese art, fast cars and celebrity girlfriend.

Maezawa made his fortune by founding the wildly popular shopping site Zozotown. His company Zozo, officially called Start Today Co Ltd, also offers a made-to-measure service using a polka dot bodysuit, the Zozosuit.

With SpaceX, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and entrepreneur Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic battling it out to launch private-sector spacecraft, Maezawa will join a growing list of celebrities and the ultra-rich who have secured seats on flights offered on the under-development vessels.

Those who have signed up to fly on Virgin Galactic sub-orbital missions include actor Leonardo DiCaprio and pop star Justin Bieber. A 90-minute flight costs $250,000.

Short sightseeing trips to space aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket are likely to cost around $200,000 to $300,000, at least to start, Reuters reported in July.

SpaceX has already upended the space industry with its relatively low-cost reusable Falcon 9 rockets. The company has completed more than 50 successful Falcon launches and snagged billions of dollars’ worth of contracts, including deals with NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense.

SpaceX in February transfixed a global audience with the successful test launch of its Falcon Heavy, the most powerful operational rocket in the world.
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Residents of One of the World’s Most Wired Countries Want a Digital Free Zone

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There’s a push to keep a remote Icelandic nature reserve free from any internet or phone signals to preserve the area’s tranquility. But not everyone is on board with the proposed digital free zone. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo reports.
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Dragons, Handmaids and Housewives – It’s Time for the Emmys

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“Game of Thrones” or “The Handmaid’s Tale”? “Atlanta” or “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”?

The best drama and comedy series races for television’s highest honors are too close to call ahead of Monday’s Emmy awards, where the field is so packed with quality contenders that some shows may leave empty-handed.

Monday’s ceremony isn’t just about the winners. “Saturday Night Live” stars Michael Che and Colin Jost host for the first time on an evening where barbs about U.S. President Donald Trump and other topical issues are expected to feature.

“They are outrageous political satirists and if they don’t shine on stage in that way, people will be disappointed,” said Tom O’Neil, editor of awards website goldderby.com.

The Emmy Awards will be handed out in Los Angeles on Monday in a ceremony broadcast live on NBC.

HBO’s crowd-pleasing medieval series “Game of Thrones” goes into Monday’s ceremony with a leading 22 nominations, but awards pundits say it faces a strong challenge from streaming service Hulu’s bleak “The Handmaid’s Tale” for the best-drama series Emmy.

The latest season of “Game of Thrones” aired almost a year ago and may suffer for being out of sight and out of mind, IndieWire Executive Editor Michael Schneider said.

“‘Handmaid’s Tale’ is a newer show. It won last year (in its first season) and it still feels very timely and part of the conversation,” he said.

“Handmaid’s Tale” star Elisabeth Moss could also be a repeat Emmy winner. Yet the drama actress field is particularly strong with contenders Claire Foy as the quietly formidable Queen Elizabeth in Netflix royal series “The Crown,” Keri Russell in her final turn as a ruthless Russian spy living as an ordinary American housewife in FX’s “The Americans,” and Sandra Oh, who could become the first woman of Asian descent to win a best-actress drama series Emmy, in BBC America’s “Killing Eve.”

While the Emmys are known for surprises, some actors appear to be shoo-ins for the statuette. Donald Glover is expected to be named best comedy actor for “Atlanta,” the absurdist FX show about life on the margins of the hip-hop community, which he also created. “Atlanta” could also win best comedy series.

“It’s very daring. It’s not a conventional comedy in any way,” O’Neil said of the show.

Rachel Brosnahan is widely favored as best comedy actress for playing an exuberant 1950s housewife who turns to stand-up after her husband leaves her in Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” while Darren Criss is a favorite in his role as a gay serial killer in FX’s limited series “The Assassination of Gianni Versace.”

NBC’s sentimental family show “This is Us” could bring repeat honors for Sterling K. Brown as empathetic dad Randall Pearson.

“Sterling K. Brown is a shoo-in whenever there is an award.

People just love him,” said Schneider.

Veterans returning to the spotlight include former “Happy Days” star Henry Winkler as a self-important acting coach in HBO’s satire “Barry,” Tony Shaloub in “Mrs. Maisel” and former “Cheers” actor Ted Danson for comedy “The Good Place.”
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Tesla’s Musk Sued for Calling Thai Cave Rescuer Pedophile

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Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, was sued for defamation on Monday for falsely suggesting that a British caver who helped save 12 boys and their soccer coach from a Thailand cave in July was a pedophile and child rapist.

Vernon Unsworth sued over Musk’s reference to him in a July 15 tweet as a “pedo guy,” a comment for which Musk later apologized. The suit also claims that Musk called Unsworth a child rapist and sex trafficker in an Aug. 30 email to BuzzFeed News.

Tesla did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Musk and the company.

The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles seeks at least $75,000 of compensatory damages, plus unspecified punitive damages.

The case adds to a slew of litigation against Musk, including over his running of Palo Alto, California-based Tesla, which the billionaire has said has caused him severe stress.

Unsworth became a target for Musk after cave rescuers rejected Musk’s offer of a mini-submarine created by his rocket company SpaceX to rescue the soccer team, which was finally freed after 18 days in the cave on July 10.

Though Unsworth told CNN three days later Musk’s offer was a “PR stunt” that had no chance of working and that Musk could “stick his submarine where it hurts,” he said that did not justify Musk’s use of Twitter and the media to defame him.

The July 15 tweet by Musk touted the mini-submarine and then, referring to Unsworth with a shorthand description of pedophile, said, “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it.”

Musk apologized on July 18, referring to Unsworth in saying “his actions against me do not justify my actions against him,” and that “the fault is mine and mine alone.”

But the complaint said that in the August 30 email, Musk urged a BuzzFeed reporter to “stop defending child rapists,” and then said Unsworth spent decades in Thailand until moving to Chiang Rai, “renowned for child sex-trafficking,” to take a 12-year-old bride.

Unsworth said all of these accusations were false, and that the defamatory statements “were manufactured out of whole cloth by Musk out of a belief on his part that his wealth and stature allowed him to falsely accuse Mr. Unsworth with impunity” because he disagreed with him about the mini-submarine.

The case is Unsworth v Musk, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 18-08048.
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Macron Eyes Purchasing Power Boost to Ease Reform Fatigue

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With his popularity ratings in freefall, French President Emmanuel Macron is counting on a rebound in family purchasing power to keep voters from turning against his reforms.

Macron’s government has lined up several tax cuts taking effect in the coming months that should boost the closely tracked measure of disposable income in France.

It could hardly come at a better time for Macron, with many voters saying the former investment banker has spent his first year in office cutting taxes for the wealthy and big companies.

More purchasing power was the single biggest priority in voters’ eyes, well ahead of cutting unemployment or the tax burden, according to a Kantar Sofres poll released on Sunday.

Squeezed by tax hikes on petrol and tobacco as well as oil price-driven inflation, household spending has floundered this year whereas it is traditionally the single biggest source of growth, accounting for 52 percent of economic output.

But next month workers will see a cut in payroll tax they pay to fund jobless insurance and the health system, followed by a cut in a city tax for all but the wealthiest in November.

“We are gradually going to improve French workers’ purchasing power,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told LCI television on Monday. “We are going to make work pay better. The French are going to see the fruit of these policies in the coming months.”

Consumer relief

With a solid parliamentary election behind him, Macron faced little resistance in his first year in office to a major overhaul of the labour code and the scrapping of the wealth tax.

But it earned him a reputation as a “president of the rich” that has been hard to shake off. A summer scandal over his bodyguard beating May Day protesters has further dented his image, and a popular environment minister resigned live on radio over frustration that Macron’s agenda was not green enough.

With his popularity ratings at all time lows, Macron needs to rebuild political capital before he launches what are set to be contentious reforms to unemployment insurance and the pension system next year, while also trying to cut public spending.

In addition to tax cuts this year, Macron’s government has pledged to scrap payroll tax next year on overtime work and profit participation schemes in small firms.

The central bank said in its latest economic outlook on Friday that the stars were aligned for a rebound in purchasing power starting at the end of this year and into 2019.

“We’re expecting about 200,000 [job creations] this year, that should translate into purchasing power for the French,  especially with inflation due to fall,” Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told Europe 1 radio.

The government is counting on the rebound to help the economy grow 1.7 percent next year. While the central bank is optimistic about the outlook for disposable income, it is only expecting GDP growth of 1.6 percent.

Meanwhile, despite the planned tax cuts, questions linger over whether households will actually feel any better off.

From January, taxes will be automatically deducted from people’s monthly pay slip, leaving those who are not already on a monthly plan – about 40 percent of taxpayers — with smaller net take-home pay.

Meanwhile, since the government’s measures to boost purchasing power mainly benefit workers, retirees are likely to be left out. Additionally, while the government has said it will raise the state pension next year it will do so by less than the rate of inflation so as to save money.
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Trump Adviser Eyes Entitlement Cuts to Plug US Budget Gaps

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A top economic adviser to President Donald Trump said on Monday he expects U.S. budget deficits of about 4 to 5 percent of the country’s economic output for the next one to two years, adding that there would likely be an effort in 2019 to cut spending on entitlement programs.

“We have to be tougher on spending,” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said in remarks to the Economic Club of New York, adding that government spending was the reason for the wider budget deficits, not the Republican-led tax cuts activated this year.

Kudlow did not specify where future cuts would be made.

“We’re going to run deficits of about 4 to 5 percent of GDP for the next year or two, OK. I’d rather they were lower but it’s not a catastrophe,” Kudlow said. “Going down the road, of course we’d like to slim that down as much as possible and we’ll work at it.”

He stated that the biggest factor for revenue was economic growth rate. A quicker pace of growth will bring in more revenue, Kudlow said, and Trump’s economic policies were aimed at boosting the U.S. growth rate.

Kudlow also said he did not expect Congress would be able to make the Trump administration’s recent individual tax cuts permanent before the Nov. 6 midterm congressional elections.

“I don’t think it will get through the whole Congress” before the election, he said, but added that making the personal tax cuts permanent “is a good message” and disagreed with forecasts that they would further increase budget deficits.
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Report: Machines to Handle Over Half Workplace Tasks by 2025

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More than half of all workplace tasks will be carried out by machines by 2025, organizers of the Davos economic forum said in a report released Monday that highlights the speed with which the labor market will change in coming years.

The World Economic Forum estimates that machines will be responsible for 52 percent of the division of labor as share of hours within seven years, up from just 29 percent today. By 2022, the report says, roughly 75 million jobs worldwide will be lost, but that could be more than offset by the creation of 133 million new jobs.

A major challenge, however, will be training and re-training employees for that new world of work.

“By 2025, the majority of workplace tasks in existence today will be performed by machines or algorithms. At the same time a greater number of new jobs will be created,” said Saadia Zahidi, a WEF board member. “Our research suggests that neither businesses nor governments have fully grasped the size of this key challenge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

The “Future of Jobs 2018” report, the second of its kind, is based on a survey of executives representing 15 million employees in 20 economies. Its authors say the outlook for job creation has become more positive since the last report in 2016 because businesses have a better sense of the opportunities made possible by technology.

The WEF said challenges for employers include enabling remote work, building safety nets to protect workers, and providing reskilling for employees. However, the report found that only one in three respondents planned to reskill at-risk workers.

Despite net positive job growth, the WEF anticipates a “significant shift in the quality, location, format and permanency of new roles. Businesses are to expand use of contractors for task-specialized work, engage workers in more flexible arrangements, utilize remote staffing, and change up locations to get access to the right talent.

The report said nearly half of all companies expect their full-time workforces to shrink by 2022, while nearly two in five expect to extend their workforce generally, and over one-quarter expect automation to create new roles in their enterprises.

Germany’s powerful DGB trade union association warned against too rapid change in the world of work.

“People, whether they’re workers or consumers, will only accept and tolerate the consequences if technology serves them — and not they it,” Reiner Hoffmann told daily Welt in reaction to the WEF report.
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Saudi Sovereign Fund Invests $1 Billion in US Electric Car Firm

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Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund invested $1 billion Monday in an American electric car manufacturer just weeks after Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier claimed the kingdom would help his own firm go private.

Tesla stock dropped Monday on reaction to the news, the same day that the Saudi fund announced it had taken its first loan, an $11 billion borrowing from global banks as it tries to expand its investments.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund said it would invest the $1 billion in Newark, California-based Lucid Motors.

The investment “will provide the necessary funding to commercially launch Lucid’s first electric vehicle, the Lucid Air, in 2020,” the sovereign wealth fund said in a statement. “The company plans to use the funding to complete engineering development and testing of the Lucid Air, construct its factory in Arizona, enter production for the Lucid Air to begin the global rollout of the company’s retail strategy starting in North America.”

Lucid issued a statement quoting Peter Rawlinson, its chief technology officer, welcoming the investment.

“At Lucid, we will demonstrate the full potential of the electric-connected vehicle in order to push the industry forward,” he said.

The decision comes after Musk on Aug. 7 tweeted that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private. Investors pushed Tesla’s shares up 11 percent in a day, boosting its valuation by $6 billion.

There are multiple reports that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the disclosure, including asking board members what they knew about Musk’s plans. Experts say regulators likely are investigating if Musk was truthful in the tweet about having the financing set for the deal. Musk later said the Saudi Public Investment Fund would be investing in the firm, something Saudi officials never comment on.

Meanwhile Monday, the sovereign wealth fund known by the acronym PIF said it had taken its first loan, an $11 billion borrowing. It did not say how it would use the money, only describing it as going toward “general corporate purposes.”

The Las Vegas-based Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute estimates the Saudi fund has holdings of $250 billion. Those include a $3.5 billion stake in the ride-sharing app Uber.

Saudi Arabia’s 33-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has talked about using the PIF to help diversify the economy of the kingdom, which relies almost entirely on money made from its oil sales.
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Music Major Discovers the Ancient Art of Baking

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A new bakery opened in Washington DC last fall has a unique approach to baking – using whole grains grown locally, and milled on-site. As Faiza Elmasry tells us, “Seylou” is the culmination of a journey for a young man who started out as a musician and became a baker. Faith Lapidus narrates.
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Belgium Refuses to Extradite Spanish Rapper

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A Belgium court has ruled that there is no reason to return a Spanish rapper to Spain.

Spain had asked Belgium to extradite rapper Jose Miguel Arenas Beltran, better known as Valtonyc, on the grounds that the entertainer had written lyrics that “glorified terrorism, insulted the royal family, and contained threats.”

Valtonyc had received a two-year sentence in Spain because of his lyrics, but fled to Belgium.

Simon Bekaert, the rapper’s lawyer said Monday in Ghent that “the judge has decided there will be no extradition and discarded all three charges.”

Bekaert said the judge ruled “there is no terrorism involved, so there is no question of a crime, according to Belgian law.”

It was not immediately clear if prosecutors would appeal the judge’s decision.

 

 

 
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Why Robots That Look Too Human Make Some People Uneasy

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An increasing number of robots are being created and designed to work side by side with humans, in a human environment. That means robots have to be structured like a person, because some of them have to walk and sit like a person. Some robots are even being designed to look human.

But seeing an android, a robot that looks human, can make some people uneasy. That growing unsettling feeling or phenomenon as robots begin to look more like human beings is called the “uncanny valley.” 

Even researchers who work on robots are not immune to it. 

“I know how they work. I know they’re just machines, but something about something that looks like a person but doesn’t quite move like a person is disturbing,” said Jonathan Gratch, director for virtual human research at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Institute for Creative Technologies.

Gratch, who is a research professor of computer science and psychology, studies human-computer interaction.

He said there are many thoughts behind why the uncanny valley exists. One explanation is that it’s biological. People are hardwired to recognize when something seems wrong.

“In my research, I study emotion and how we use emotional cues to read each other’s minds, and I think a lot of the issue for me is if you try to make something very realistic, then you start trying to read all this information into what it’s portraying, and it is not the right information. So, it just communicates something is off. Something is wrong with this interaction,” Gratch said.

Another theory is that a robot that looks too human threatens what it means to be human.

“Initially, humans were seen as the only intelligent entity. And now, we know more and more that animals can do many of the things that we do, build tools. We know machines are starting to become intelligent. We hold on to the fact that we’re emotional, but now these machines are starting to be emotional as well, which is perhaps a threat. So, where does that lead people?” Gratch explained. 

A person’s religious beliefs and culture may also play into how an android is perceived, he suggested.

“In the Western tradition, coming from Christianity, humans are unique, perhaps uniquely possessing a soul. Whereas in Japanese Shinto culture, souls live everywhere, in rocks and machines,” Gratch said.

John Rebula is a postdoctoral fellow at USC and is working on making a humanoid robot walk like a person by being more coordinated and balanced. Applications include the ability to walk up a flight of stairs and sit in a chair made for a person. He said the robot’s face is not necessary and is clearly cosmetic.

“We really do think of these as research machines that we’re ripping apart and putting back together, ripping apart and putting back together. And so, it’s very easy for us to leave off the cosmetic bits,” Rebula said.

His robot does have cartoon-like eyes, ears and a nose. It could be considered cute. However, if it looked more human, Rebula said he would not necessarily want to be in the lab with it all the time.

“We have lots of late nights in labs. You start yelling at the robot a little bit as it is — ‘Oh, why aren’t you working?’ I don’t necessarily, myself, need that extra layer of weird,” Rebula said.

People who design machines to work with humans do keep the uncanny valley in mind as they think about the look of a robot, and how widely it will be accepted by humans.
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Time Magazine Sold for $190 Million to Couple

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Time Magazine is being sold by Meredith Corp. to Marc Benioff, a co-founder of Salesforce, and his wife.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the iconic news magazine is being sold for $190 million to Benioff, one of four co-founders of Salesforce, a cloud computing pioneer.

The sale is occurring nearly eight months after Meredith Corp. completed its purchase of Time Inc.

Meredith, the publisher of such magazines as People and Better Homes & Gardens, had put four Time Inc. publications up for sale in March. Negotiations for the sale of the three other publications — Fortune, Money and Sports Illustrated — are continuing.
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Meet Captain South Africa; She’d Rather not Punch Criminals

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The usual suspects — Wonder Woman, Spider-Man and Darth Vader — roamed at Comic Con Africa. A few African characters were also on display: Kwezi, Captain South Africa and Shaka Zulu.

The success of Marvel’s “Black Panther” film spiked interest in African stories, and creators on the continent hope to capitalize with more comic book characters of their own. The three-day convention ending Sunday in South Africa was a platform for their efforts, even if it was dominated by the global superheroes, villains and other pop culture figures who have been around for decades.

Many of the first African comic books are “caricatures of Supermans, of Captain Americas,” said Bill Masuku, a Zimbabwean artist and writer. “But if you allow that to grow, giving it time, you will get better quality story-telling that is naturally African.”

One example is Masuku’s Captain South Africa, a black female superhero who “doesn’t want to punch criminals because that doesn’t end crime,” he said at a convention stall where he also promoted another of his creations, Zimbabwean superhero Razor-Man.

Thousands of people, many in costume, turned out for the suburban Johannesburg event introduced by Reed Exhibitions. ReedPOP, a subsidiary of the global company, hosts similar conventions around the world and brought its model to Africa for the first time.

Lagos, Nigeria and Nairobi, Kenya have been running their own “comic con” festivals for several years; South Africa’s annual ICON comic and games convention started in 1992.

Hurricane Florence scrapped plans by Anthony Mackie, the actor who has played Marvel’s Falcon superhero, to travel to Comic Con Africa. Aquaman actor Jason Momoa also canceled. Kevin Sussman from “The Big Bang Theory” and Yetide Badaki from “American Gods” made it, to the delight of autograph and photo op seekers.

“If you have issues with personal space, comic cons are not for you,” said ICON director Les Allen as he waded through crowds. Up ahead, video gamers playing a “Counter-Strike” first-person shooter in sound-proof booths battled each other on giant screens as spectators followed the combat. Someone in a reptilian “Predator” outfit paced the hall, posing with fans. Other people had masks, hoods, swords and staffs and there was plenty of spandex and hair spray, of course.

“Shaka Rising: A Legend of the Warrior Prince,” a glossy graphic novel about the real-life Zulu king who built an empire at a time of European expansion into Africa, was among home-grown projects on display. The story of power and intrigue was written and drawn by South African Luke Molver.

“To a large extent, African stories get told by people outside of Africa, about people in Africa,” said Robert Inglis, the book’s promoter and director of Jive Media Africa, a company based in South Africa. Part of the reason is that many African stories circulate through “word of mouth” and don’t have the “lasting kind of print space” to resonate internationally, he said.

Nearby, Janine Evans was offering capes modeled on traditional Basotho blankets and other clothing merchandise associated with a band of southern African superheroes.

“Our aim here is to actually take the Afrocentric from the fantasy world and bring it into people’s everyday lives,” she said.

One African superhero is Kwezi, a comic book character drawn by creator Loyiso Mkize. He is a young man who learns he has special powers, and then sorts out problems in the local community. In a short video animation, a flying Kwezi checks a phone message that summons him to an urban Johannesburg neighborhood: “Trouble in Braamfontein, we need you now!!!!”

Other promotions at Comic Con Africa include “The Tokoloshe,” a South African horror movie whose name refers to an evil spirit; and “Apocalypse Now Now,” a South African short film and novel whose name plays on the uniquely South African phrase meaning “soon.”

The goal is “to normalize the existence of African content and creators,” said Masuku, the Captain South Africa creator. “We’re still making the steps to get there. I’m happy with where we are right now.”
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Cambodian Vlogger Promotes Equal Rights With Positive Sex-Ed Posts 

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Catherine V. Harry is 23, has 243,000 Facebook followers, generates between $1,000 to $2,000 a month from her vlog, A Dose of Cath, which focuses on sexual and reproductive health, and she doesn’t much care if people disagree with her on women’s rights as long as they discuss the topics she considers important.

In Cambodia, what sets her apart is her willingness to take on the traditional social and cultural code, the chbap srey, which defines expectations for Cambodian women. Although no longer taught in schools, it is a mindset with deep cultural roots that sees good women as quiet and obedient. Harry, however, sees it as a tool of oppression, one that enshrines gender inequality and masks violence toward women in and out of their homes by encouraging them to remain silent.

Harry started her women’s rights advocacy in 2012 as a blogger confronting the chbap srey. She launched her Facebook vlog in February 2017 with enough weekly topics mapped out to see her through the first 50 weeks.

She posts every Saturday night, a time slot that appeals to her audience, mostly young women like herself. 

“I talk to them as friends,” she says. “I won’t lecture them so I can be one of their friends. I share what I know to them. So, they can relate themselves to what I share.”

Taking on taboo topics

Harry vlogs about taboo topics, such as menstruation, contraception, abortion. Most of her clips average about 100,000 views. A post on virginity, “Is the value of women determined by virginity?,” has passed 2 million hits and thousands of comments — not bad in a country of 16.3 million people, 6.8 million of them on Facebook.

Harry intentionally selects what she describes as “the controversial topics” and issues a call to action with each post.

She responds to all comments and appreciates negative feedback because, as her vlog production assistant and boyfriend, Panha Chum, the 25-year-old owner of a Phnom Penh translation firm, says, “At least they are able to understand what we want them to know.”

“I want people to debate about the topics that I raise. Their disagreement won’t matter much to me,” Harry said.

Not everyone appreciates Harry’s outspokenness, said Chindavotey Ly, coordinator of the Student Success Program and former president of the student senate at Pannasastra University of Cambodia. 

“But when she talks about those topics, both men and women can understand that those are the issues of women’s rights,” Ly said.

Within a year of the launch of the vlog, Forbes magazine put Harry on its “30 under 30” list for Asia.

“It is important to have a debate on the topics that have not been discussed or have been restricted,” said Chantevy Khoun, who heads the Women’s Rights Team at ActionAid Cambodia, which has worked with Harry. “She … dares to break the taboos.”

Raised conservatively

Harry wasn’t always a taboo-buster. Born in Phnom Penh, her parents, Solyna Svay and Sambath Hun, named her Soksovankesor Sambath, and raised her conservatively. Her father stressed things like not wearing short shorts in public, and not meeting friends in the evening.

“When I was young … I didn’t care about gender and inequality in the society,” Harry said. That changed in junior high when, without internet access at home, she began going online at coffee shops “to learn about social issues. … I think my life has changed since then.” She also became involved with the Love 9 project at BBC. “I met many people who were passionate about women’s rights. I took action. I eventually became who I am today.”

New name, life at 17

Harry cast aside Soksovankesor Sambath when she was 17 and took the name Catherine V. Harry, to represent her new personality and worldview.

Her mother embraced her new daughter. 

“My mother was so tough on me when I was young. She dictated all my decisions. I told myself that I wouldn’t pass it on to my daughter,” Solyna Svay said. “My daughter … lacked confidence when she was young. Now she contributes; she helps society. She empowers other girls to make decisions independently and to challenge traditional … practices.”

Harry defines feminism as people who work to promote the equality of all people.

“Sometimes, when I drive or ride on the road, I have been catcalled by strangers,” Harry said. “I, sometimes, have been followed or approached by strangers after dark. So, my freedom of movement is not granted. I feel I am living under pressure and unsafe.”

Men lose, too

Cambodia’s patriarchal norms also hurt men, Harry says, because “a man cannot reveal his emotion. Sometimes male victims of rape and sexual violence are discouraged to speak [because] culturally a man is not considered a victim of rape.”

Harry, often criticized, isn’t considering backing down anytime soon. 

“I touch the sensitive issues of the society. If there will be no negative comments on my videos, I don’t think it would be effective. I want people to start discussing the topics. People, who agree or disagree with what I am doing, have a platform to exchange their ideas,” Harry said.

“I think it is not a bad thing, but conservatives find it intensely unacceptable,” said Solyna Svay, who worries about Harry, “but I’m still positive. Others’ comments are others’ issues.”

Harry said that while many people support and appreciate her work, many disagree with and devalue it. Some of her friends unfriended and unfollowed her on Facebook.

Some still prefer to preserve a norm that Harry deems oppressive, the chbab srey.

“A friend of mine said, ‘That is not in the school’s curriculum anymore. Why would you care about it, while others wouldn’t?’ ” Harry said.

“That person doesn’t understand that the concept of chbab srey is embedded in people’s minds. Whether we have known it or not, we still practice it,” she added.

But things do change. Harry now has her father’s full support.

“My dad debates with people who criticized me on my Facebook page,” Harry said. “He explains to them that I want changes on women’s rights.”

Harry’s boyfriend, Chum, another convert, says “feminism is not just about women — it is for all.” Harry’s stance is, in his mind, “logical. Humans should be equal.”
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